He is >

During the month of December, Waxahachie Bible Church is participating with about 30 other churches in the area in a collaborative effort around the Messianic theme, Heis>. For months, participating churches have been brain-storming, collecting ideas and combining resources and putting together worship elements to make this a community-wide expression of the magnificent gift of God’s Son who we celebrate at Christmas. While churches will each have their own unique way of presenting the themes, participating churches will all focus on the same five biblical texts during the Christmas season. Participating churches are across denominational lines and include congregations in Waxahachie, Ennis, Midlothian, Maypearl, Rice, DeSoto, Red Oak and Corsicana.

Thousands upon thousands of t-shirts have been printed and distributed at area churches during November and are asked to be worn as often as possible throughout the area during the weeks of the series. We hope the shirts will spark questions and encourage conversations about the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as people see the shirts at school and businesses across the area. As conversations are initiated, we pray that many will present the gospel message of Jesus Christ and invite others to attend WBC church during the Christmas season. We hope that many newcomers will come to WBC during the month of December. Do your part in inviting people who have no church home of regular attendance to come and be with us.

An accompanying Heis> website was also launched on Black Friday at www.Heisgreater.com. This web address is on the back of the t-shirts, and the website contains a listing of all the participating churches, locations and worship schedule times by city, as well as a family resource Heis> devotional guide. Also on the website is a “Twelve Days of Christmas Kindness” guide to encourage believers across the participating churches to creatively express their faith in tangible ways to others.

This is the most extensive collaborative, cross-denominational cooperative expression in Ellis County for some time and centers around the central character of Christmas, Jesus Christ.

“JESUS has an impressive resume. Being born of a virgin and living a sinless life is impressive. We’ve all seen impressive resumes and we try to write impressive resumes. But any employer who’s ever hired anyone knows a great resume isn’t good enough. The resume is a start but it doesn’t tell the whole story. At a glance, the resume can show where someone went to school, how much job experience they have, and what skills they have. However, references can give another piece of the picture. They tell an employer what other people think of the applicant. An employer wants to know not only what’s on the resume but also what other people have to say. They want to check and see if what is on the resume is actually true. In addition to checking references, an employer will request an interview. This gives an opportunity for the employer and applicant to meet face-to-face. Jesus has a great resume and there are plenty of people who can even testify and give Him a reference. However, the best kind of information comes from personally having an interview and being able to say that He’s everything He declares Himself to be based on experience. Having a personal relationship with Jesus is to know for oneself that He is real.” - Dr. Tony Evans

“During a break from our TV interview on Larry King Live in March of 2006, Larry surprised Jerry Jenkins and me with this statement: “I am not a believer, but I have the utmost respect for Jesus Christ. I believe He was the most influential person who ever lived.” Why would Larry King make such a statement? Because it’s true. Of the estimated more than thirteen billion people who have lived on the earth since the dawn of recorded history, why does the one named Jesus Christ draw so much attention—more attention without question than any other person? The world has always been, is now, and will forever be fascinated by Jesus. But why? Before we attempt to answer that question, let’s consider the facts: He has served as the inspiration for more literature, more music, and more works of art than any other person in history. Millions of churches throughout the world have been built in His honor. Our calendar has been set according to His birth. The two biggest holidays celebrated worldwide each year, Christmas and Easter, commemorate His birth and His resurrection. Nearly everyone who has lived on this planet during the last two millennia has heard of Him. Is there any other person who comes to mind for which the same can be said? Amazingly, His influence in the world has not diminished over the course of the succeeding centuries. Despite ever-evolving cultural changes and notwithstanding media reports to the contrary, Jesus is just as relevant to this generation as He was when He walked the shores of Galilee. Throughout the ages, people inspired by His teachings have taken the initiative to build the majority of the world’s hospitals, instigate the formation of most of our colleges and universities, and launch countless humanitarian programs in nearly every part of the globe.”  - Dr. Tim LaHaye

The late Dr. D. James Kennedy, in his book “What If Jesus Had Never Been Born?” wrote about a man named Charles Bradlaugh, a nineteenth-century atheist who challenged Hugh Price Hughes, an active Christian evangelist working among the poor in the slums of London, to a debate on the validity of Christianity. Hughes told Bradlaugh he would agree to the debate on one condition: He said, “I propose to you that we each bring some concrete evidences of the validity of our belief in the form of men and women who have been redeemed from the lives of sin and shame by the influence of our teaching. I will bring one hundred such men and women, and I challenge you to do the same.” Hughes then said that if Bradlaugh couldn’t bring one hundred, then he could bring fifty; if he couldn’t bring fifty, then he could bring twenty. He finally whittled the number down to one. All Bradlaugh had to do was to find one person whose life was improved by atheism and Hughes—who would bring one hundred people improved by Christ—would agree to debate him. Bradlaugh eventually withdrew.

Christ-Centered Resources

Each year we hand out a book that can help you center your life around Christ during the Advent and Christmas season. It is called Draw Near, and you can pick up your copy from the magazine racks throughout the building.

This year we will hand out a booklet each week called He is > @ Home. This will also help you center your life around Christ during this season and will correspond with the sermon passages each week. You can pick up your copy from the magazine racks throughout the building or at the Welcome Desk.

The Nativity Story DVD - This is a great resource to help center your family around Christ at Christmas time. Set some time apart to watch this film about the true meaning of Christmas.

This Month's Focus

It's hard to believe that it’s time for Christmas again this year. What do you think about when you think of Christmas? Hopefully you seek to center Christmas around Jesus. This month at WBC, we would like to point you to some ways that you can center your life around Christ. As we begin, please read Chapter 2 of Luke and notice how Jesus is the center of the story.

1  Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus to register all the empire for taxes. 2  This was the first registration, taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3  Everyone went to his own town to be registered. 4  So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David. 5  He went to be registered with Mary, who was promised in marriage to him, and who was expecting a child. 6  While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds’ Visit
8  Now there were shepherds nearby living out in the field, keeping guard over their flock at night. 9  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were absolutely terrified. 10  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: 11  Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. 12  This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.” 13  Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

14  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”

15  When the angels left them and went back to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, that the Lord has made known to us.” 16  So they hurried off and located Mary and Joseph, and found the baby lying in a manger. 17  When they saw him, they related what they had been told about this child, 18  and all who heard it were astonished at what the shepherds said. 19  But Mary treasured up all these words, pondering in her heart what they might mean. 20  So the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen; everything was just as they had been told.

21  At the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was named Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Christ-Centered Resources

Gungor’s DVD: Let There Be
Review by Adam Barnes


From the opening of Let There Be, as Lisa Gungor sings “This Is My Father’s World” in a seaside cave with only the sounds of the tide rolling in to accompany her, we can clearly see the focus of this documentary/live music film. We come alongside Michael and Lisa Gungor as well as a collective of musicians on a global journey through God’s creation in many venues to experience Christ-centered culture and art. Gungor has made an incredible work that deliberately chooses to reveal that God is everywhere. Blending footage from live performances across a year’s tour, film maker Andy Catarisano weaves a story of the sacred that is all around.

Between songs, Michael Gungor lays out a narrative that addresses our place in God’s creation, our sinful nature, and our insatiable need for God in our lives. It’s plainly clear that we need Christ’s offering, but atonement is not the only thing we are seeking. Purpose and life are found there, and we are meant to partake with others in this process. Let There Be is a work that was made possible by the contributions of fans, people who were able to become a part of the project. By raising money through a Kickstarter, the band was able to closely mirror how we come alongside God in joining with His process.

God’s Creation is centered on Christ and testifies the Lord’s Redemptive work (Colossians 1:15-20). Like a father working a garden, He desires for us, His children, to know the joy of working with Him and seeing the work bloom and grow. The Lord’s work is all around, in skies vast and oceans deep, in cathedrals as well as subway stations. There was once a Rabbi who blurred the lines of sacred and profane and taught that loving God and loving people was the highest law. His work continues in those who choose to follow after Him.

Gungor’s work in Let There Be illuminates the wonder of God’s creation and allows us all to come and worship Christ in His presence. Take some time to check out this wonderful work of art. If you would like, you can borrow my copy.

20 Christianese Phrases We Really Need to Stop Saying

by Jon Acuff

I don’t want a hedge of protection around me.

If you’re praying for me, feel free to not install one of those on the landscape of my life.

Don’t get me wrong, I think hedges are adorable, but they’re highly ineffective. I mean, how hard is it to step over a hedge?

Have you ever seen a bush and thought, “If there’s only one thing standing between me and the devil, I hope it’s a bush of that girth.”

Of course not. Nobody is afraid of bushes.

And yet, every day, thousands of Christians ask for a hedge of protection with little or no regard to the implication that you’re leaving your life in the hands of shrubbery. I say it’s time to retire that phrase. In fact, it’s time to say farewell to a number of well-known Christianese words and phrases.

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“I covet your prayers”
When did this become OK? Did we get a vote? I would like a recount, please. This one is kind of gross. Every time I hear someone say that, I feel like they are saying “I lust after your prayers.” Throughout the Bible we’re told not to covet and yet, here we are “redeeming” this phrase. Quit it. You might as well say, “I idolize your prayers.”

“Just sayin” 

Christians use this phrase as a “Get out of jerk free” card. We write the most vile, bitter statement on Facebook and then punctuate it with “just sayin’,” as if that makes the rest of it invisible. It didn’t, we still saw what you wrote. You know who would have loved this phrase in the Bible? The Pharisees. Can’t you see them saying to Jesus, “Whoa, Jesus, you healed a guy. That’s great. Healing is awesome. It is the Sabbath though. Just sayin’.” If we only retire one phrase on this list, I hope it is this one.

“Blessed with the gift of singleness”
Don’t have a husband or wife? Not in a serious relationship with a Proverbs 31 woman? Not learning and living the love languages? Maybe you were given a special gift to remain alone forever. Maybe that one was dropped off on the doorstep of your heart this year. The next time someone says you got the gift of singleness, give them the gift of a leg sweep. Karate Kid style.

“Transparent” or “Authentic”
Oh, you’re just honest? Yikes. I’ll pray for you. Probably even lift you up in some fashion. I’m not only honest; I’m transparent, like an empty Ziploc bag. I’m authentic, like hipster jeans handmade in the U.S. of A. Honest is old news.

“Love on”
This one makes me want to “puke on.” Why we felt the need to add the word “on” to a perfectly good verb will forever confuse me. Love is enough. I dare say, “all we need is love.”

“Love offering,” “praise offering” or “clap offering”
Next time you’re at a restaurant, try to leave the waiter a “clap offering.” Let me know how that works out for you. And yet, we throw this phrase around at church. If I participate in any of these types of offerings, I feel it’s only appropriate I get a free pass on the actual offering later on in the service.

“Wrecked”
We don’t say “I enjoyed that.” We don’t say, “I liked that.” Instead, Christians are constantly getting “wrecked.”

“That sermon wrecked me.”

“That song wrecked me.”

“That dramatic skit to Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror wrecked me.”

There’s a whole lot of wrecking going on in Christianity right now.

“The unspoken prayer request”
I won’t lie, in some situations, this can be honest. You have something you don’t want to tell a prayer circle about, so you throw out an “unspoken prayer request.” Maybe it’s a personal issue you are not ready to broadcast. Fair enough, but just know this: When you say this, everyone will assume some very dark things about you.

Putting Satan “on notice”
I’m assuming this is done via telegram or pony express, but the premise is simple. You pray about a cookout you’re having and as a bonus to the prayer, you say, “And Satan, we’re putting you on notice. You stay away from this cookout, devil!” Prior to that notice, I am almost positive he was going to show up and give someone food poisoning via the potato salad. Satan hates being put on notice.

“Bless her heart”
This phrase is mostly in the South, but so am I, so I hear it a lot. This is the phrase Christians use to gossip but still look holy. Here’s an example: “That girl is horrible. Very trampy. Very bad morals. Bless her heart!” I once heard this phrase called “vinegar pie.” It looks like pie on the outside, but inside it’s disgusting. You will often hear this in public prayer circles.

“Just”
This is just the most commonly overused word in public prayer. And I have just ruined you. I apologize. The next time you hear someone pray, it will be impossible to not hear them say, “Lord just hear us, just know us, just, just, just, just, just!” This word is like salt we sprinkle on prayers.

“Doing life together”
Someone pointed out that this phrase sounds like you’re talking about your cellmate, but that’s not what it means. Technically, it means you went to dinner with someone. Or you talked with your neighbor at the mailbox. Or you waved at someone in traffic. This is “fellowshipping” on steroids, which is another word that could have made this list.

All the new names for Sunday School
At some point, we decided the phrase “Sunday school” was too old fashioned. It made people think of fire and brimstone and fundamentalism and the scene in Footloose when they weren’t allowed to dance. So we retired it, and instead, we tell our 4-year-olds that they are now in a “community group.” I don’t know that eating glue and bootleg Oreos and trying not to bite one another really counts as a “community group.”

“First world problems”
Nothing changes someone’s personal beliefs and issues like when you respond to them on Twitter with #FirstWorldProblems. The irony of someone on a Mac laptop in Starbucks taking notes in a Moleskine notebook while wearing an unnecessary scarf judging someone else for having a first world problem makes my teeth hurt.

Using “I’ll pray about it” as a synonym for “no”
If someone asks you to pick up bulletins at the end of church, you probably don’t need to say, “I’ll pray about it.” You can just pick up the bulletins. I’m not sure that’s something you have to approach the throne with.

“In Christian Love”
This is a cousin phrase of “Bless her heart.” This is the phrase you drop in right before you verbally punch someone in the face. Allow me to demonstrate: “Jon, I hope you can hear this in Christian love, because that’s how I mean it. Your books are horrible. They are really poorly written and I hope no one buys them. In Christian love.”

“Baby Christian”
This is one we use to encourage young Christians not to become Christians. Instead of saying “new Christian” we say “baby” so your position is clearly noted. It means you’re probably not as smart, holy or wise as me. I’m not a baby Christian. I’m an adult Christian. I’m loving on people, which you probably wouldn’t even understand.

“Going through a season”
Fall, winter, spring and summer aren’t enough seasons for Christians. We demand more seasons out of our lives. We are constantly creating our own extra seasons to go through. Got a flat tire on the way to work? That’s a season. Got dumped after one awkward date at Olive Garden? That’s a season. Depressed because you blew through a whole season of TV on Netflix in one night? That’s a season. It’s all seasons, man.

“I love Jesus but not religion”
That’s a real shame because you know who was really religious? A guy named Jesus. You should see all the old-school laws he followed in his time here. I completely understand the need to separate yourself from some of the negativity associated with Christianity, but wordplay rarely changes someone’s life. I’ve never met a single person who said, “I started a lifelong relationship with Christ after your dissertation on why you love Jesus but not Christianity or religion. That had a huge impact in opening my eyes to my need for the forgiving blood of Christ.” (The one exception to this rule is the guy who did the spoken word video on this very topic. He’s a great guy and made a great video.)

Echoing things
You know who repeats things or seconds them? Sinners. Not us Christians. We echo. We have become one big echo chamber. We echo prayers. We echo hopes. We echo thoughts. We echo. Like a cave. Like a cave. Like a cave.

With a list this long, you’ll probably disagree with a few of my choices. Or you’ll feel that I left some out. I’ll pray a hedge of protection around you because I’m pretty sure you’re on a slippery slope. I might go as far as loving on you through this season. Just sayin’.

Published in Relevant Magazine

Mimicking the Mainstream

by Tim Willard


“The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind,” historian Mark Noll keenly observed of the current state of evangelicalism (The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind). However, it was not always this way. Evangelicalism has become a juggernaut of sorts in the present age, but possibly at the expense of its mind. The sub-culture that is evangelicalism has successfully morphed into a dominant political combatant, as well as a multi-billion dollar publishing (multimedia) empire. One must ask the questions, however: have Christians sacrificed scholarship and intellect for relevance? Have Christians truly become anti-intellectual?

If to lead is to influence, what evidence is there that evangelicals lead out in culture with their excellence or with their spiritual acts of worship? Evangelicals put great importance on leading but instead of creating culture they are content to create a sub-culture, mimicking the mainstream.

J. Gresham Machen was a well-known Christian Scholar at Princeton at the turn of the 20th century. His words may be over one hundred years old, but they still ring true: “Christianity must pervade not merely all nations, but also all human thought… instead of obliterating the distinction between the Kingdom and the world, or on the other hand, withdrawing from the world into a sort of modernized intellectual monasticism, let us go forth joyfully, enthusiastically to make the world subject to God” (Christianity & Liberalism).

With mega-churches growing like Jack’s beanstalk, the new American mind-set of evangelism is, “Get’em into the church building, put on a good show, don’t offend them, give them some Starbucks, and BAM! They’ll get saved.” After all, we must be “all things to all men.” But what happens when we become everything to the world? Christians become everything and nothing.

What is the fruit produced from this faux-finished faith known as evangelicalism? We have huge churches catering to the lowest common denominators of culture. We have a lack of theological integrity because we don’t want to offend anyone with our doctrine. We have turned the body of Christ into something that feels and runs more like a corporation than an intimate community where families actually care about each other. We measure success like a business; if our numbers are growing then everything is good.

The only problem with this mindset is that discipleship cannot be measured in this way. Making a disciple of Christ takes time. It is hard. It is not something that takes place at a huge conference or outreach event. It is life on life.

The fruit of discipleship surfaces a few years down the line when those young people in the youth group have graduated and come back to the church not to be entertained but to plug into someone.

The church has forgotten what it means to equip the Christian mind. It is more concerned with putting on productions than putting out disciples. The end result is a bunch of whiney adults who don’t like the way the power-point presentation looked last week, or complain that the coffee bar needs to have more flavors to choose from. We have successfully dumbed down the Word of God. Intimacy with the Almighty is not something we strive for anymore. We scream “Relevance!” and sacrifice the minds Christ has given us.

I work with a group of young adults who are thirsty for an authentic Christian experience. They want to grow in their spiritual lives. They desire what Paul desired more than anything: to know God.

Relevance does not come from looking cool, a great church production, or using hip lingo. It comes from loving others. Wade Clark Roof of the University of California comments on the Gnostic experience and how it “celebrates experience rather than doctrine; the personal rather than the institutional; the mythic and dreamlike over the cognitive; people’s religion over official religion.” Has our faith morphed into something close to Gnosticism? Is it possible to find balance between the doctrine and experience?

The Christian culture tends to swing like the pendulum to one extreme, stay there for a while and then swing back to the other side. Do I believe we need to have experience in our faith journeys? Yes. Do we need to be more people oriented and less self-serving? Absolutely! However, I think the Church takes its cues from culture rather than creating culture. Our faith demands our hearts and our minds.

The Christian landscape heaves with shallow people, content to live out their faith in the plush sanctuaries of the American church. We are training young Christians not to think about God or reflect on His glory. I have been told on more than one occasion to teach or write in a way that does not threaten someone’s mind (bring the cookies down to the bottom shelf). The interesting thing is when I took a survey of high school seniors who sat in our group discussions they loved the fact that I did not teach down to them. They loved being challenged in their minds and hearts. They said they were tired of the hollowness of their faith. We are hollow Christians. The deep well of intimacy with God is missing from our faith.

Brothers and sisters, look around you. The Christian life is deeper than your iPod play list, it is more intense than Gran Turismo, and it is more than somebody’s idea of saving the world. At some point we will realize that our culture is looking for leaders not mimickers. It is time to create culture … heart, soul, and mind.

Christ @ the Center of Worship: The Difference Between Congregational Worship and a Concert

Is there a difference? Yes. There are several things to consider when it comes to congregational worship. One big thing is that, biblically and historically speaking, worship is centered on Jesus Christ in both form and content. In concerts, this is not the case. Some concerts may have songs that are centered on Christ, but the event itself is centered on the artist. You can buy their music and their T-shirt and listen to them talk and sing about their life with Christ, but the form of the event is not centered on Christ. This is not a bad thing. Concerts exist to help promote artists and music, and these things make a difference for Christ. A problem happens when we borrow the concert mentality and seek to implement it in church worship. Practically speaking, there are several things we can highlight that can help us keep Christ at the center of church worship and not borrow from the methods of concerts.

John Piper points out that when they tried to determine what the worship at the church where he pastors would look like, they concluded, “If Bethlehem is not ‘singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart,’ (Ephesians 5:19), it’s all over. We close up shop. This is no small commitment.”

James K. A. Smith made a similar point along with some more helpful insight:

1. If we, the congregation, can’t hear ourselves, it’s not worship. Christian worship is not a concert. In a concert (a particular “form of performance”), we often expect to be overwhelmed by sound, particularly in certain styles of music. In a concert, we come to expect that weird sort of sensory deprivation that happens from sensory overload, when the pounding of the bass on our chest and the wash of music over the crowd leaves us with the rush of a certain aural vertigo. And there’s nothing wrong with concerts! It’s just that Christian worship is not a concert. Christian worship is a collective, communal, congregational practice – and the gathered sound and harmony of a congregation singing as one is integral to the practice of worship. It is a way of “performing” the reality that, in Christ, we are one body. But that requires that we actually be able to hear ourselves, and hear our sisters and brothers singing alongside us. When the amped sound of the praise band overwhelms congregational voices, we can’t hear ourselves sing – so we lose that communal aspect of the congregation and are encouraged to effectively become “private,” passive worshipers.

2. If we, the congregation, can’t sing along, it’s not worship. In other forms of musical performance, musicians and bands will want to improvise and “be creative,” offering new renditions and exhibiting their virtuosity with all sorts of different trills and pauses and improvisations on the received tune. Again, that can be a delightful aspect of a concert, but in Christian worship it just means that we, the congregation, can’t sing along. And so your virtuosity gives rise to our passivity; your creativity simply encourages our silence. And while you may be worshiping with your creativity, the same creativity actually shuts down congregational song.

3. If the praise band, are the center of attention, it’s not worship. I know it’s generally not the fault of the praise band that we’ve put them at the front of the church. And I know worship leaders want to model worship for us to imitate. But because we’ve encouraged our leaders to basically import forms of performance from the concert venue into the sanctuary, we might not realize that we’ve also unwittingly encouraged a sense that worship leaders are the center of attention. And when the band’s performance becomes a display of their virtuosity—even with the best of intentions—it’s difficult to counter the temptation to make the praise band the focus of our attention. When the praise band goes into long riffs that they might intend as “offerings to God,” we the congregation become utterly passive, and because we’ve adopted habits of relating to music from the Grammys and the concert venue, we unwittingly make the band the center of attention. I wonder if there might be some intentional reflection on placement (to the side? leading from behind?) and performance that might help us counter these habits we bring with us to worship.

Refusing to look at our praise and worship leaders as celebrities or gifted high priests can put us on the right path for approaching church worship. Keeping the body of Christ singing in the context of the story of the gospel is also key to keeping Christ @ the center of worship.